Cape High graduate wins big on "Price is Right"

Fischl snapped this photo of her “Price is Right” appearance today on her family’s television. She's pictured with host Drew Carey during the game "Bonkers."(Photo: The Price is Right on CBS, produced by FremantleMedia)

Kayla Fischl didn't win a new car on "The Price Is Right," but that's OK. She's still going to Costa Rica.

The Cape Coral High School graduate won the dream trip during the game show's April 30 taping. The special "Back to School" episode didn't air until 11 a.m. Friday on CBS.

Fischl, 21, admits it was toughing keeping her prize secret for four months. But she says she didn't want to violate the show's confidentiality agreement.

"I was thinking, 'I am NOT going to give up a trip to Costa Rica!'" she says. "It was mum's the word. I wasn't allowed to say anything to anybody."

Fischl attended the April taping on a whim, taking the day off from AMDA College and Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Los Angeles. She graduated in June, and now she's about to start on her master's degree in musical theater at The Boston Conservatory.

Fischl won the Costa Rica trip by playing the game "Bonkers." She had 30 seconds to guess the cost of the trip and hit a buzzer. She got it on her second try.

"Pretty good day, right?" host Drew Carey asked her moments after she was called onstage to play "Bonkers."

"Oh," she answered with a grin, "it's turning out magnificent!"

Fischl ended up competing against another student in the show's Showcase Showdown finale, but she lost by underbidding on a prize that included a new car and a vacation to Greece.

Fischl did a lot of jumping and grinning on the show – something she says is a bit uncharacteristic of her.

"When you're on that show, you start doing things that you haven't done since you were 5," she says and laughs. "You start weird dancing and hugging and screaming."

She says she felt a kind of euphoria on that stage. She's a longtime fan of "The Price is Right."

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing," she says. "It was super exciting and super fun. I loved every minute of it!"

She's not sure when she's going to Costa Rica, but she says she'll probably take her mother when she goes. She's currently visiting her parents in Cape Coral, where she continues to spend her summers and holidays.